County Development Board sets out ’08 Work Programme

At the last County Development Board meeting, which was held on Friday, February 1, the Board put together their Work Programme for 2008.

In addition to the 13 priority actions already agreed, the Board agreed to give special attention to:

1) Development of Farmers Markets

2) Gaeltacht areas

3) Steps to help counteract the fall-out from the decreasing levels of activity in the construction industry in the county.

A special presentation was made to the Board by Tadhg O’Donoghue, former Chairman of the ESB, who stepped down from the position in January of this year.

Mr O’Donoghue addressed the board on a number of issues, including the electricity networks, and windfarms. In his presentation, Mr O’Donoghue pointed out that that the electricity network in Kerry has been modernised to meet anticipated needs up to 2015, with plans in place to reinforce the lines to Dingle and Cahirciveen.

Speaking on windfarms, Mr O’Donoghue advised on the advantage of clusters, rather than one-off windfarms and felt that in the long-term the question of securing planning permission, rather than connection lines, will be the challenge facing the large number of developers interested in wind-farming projects.

In addition to Mr O’Donoghue’s presentation, the County Development Board also held discussions on the changing trends in relation to housing construction and the number of persons on the live register.

All members spoke on the importance of the forthcoming Castleisland Bypass, pointing out that the vast majority of visitors to the county come via road from Limerick and Dublin, and that it was important that delays in the construction of the bypass be avoided.